Social and psychological correlates of transphobia

Antonio Prunas

Background

Hill (2002) defines transphobia in terms of “emotional disgust toward individuals who do not conform to society’s gender expectations” (Hill and Willoughby 2005, p. 533). While there is an established literature on... [ view full abstract ]

Hill (2002) defines transphobia in terms of “emotional disgust toward individuals who do not conform to society’s gender expectations” (Hill and Willoughby 2005, p. 533). While there is an established literature on homophobia, transphobia is still an understudied area, in spite of the implications for the well-being of trans people.Lack of research in the field is particularly relevant in terms of the psychological variables implied in transphobia. For instance, previous research (Ciocca et al., 2015) has investigated the psychological aspects associated with homophobia, such as psychopathological symptoms, the defensive system, and attachment styles, showing the involvement of psychoticism and immature defense mechanisms in homophobic attitudes. No such study is as of yet available for transphobia.

Aim(s)

Aim of the present study is to assess which socio-demographical and psychological variables (focusing in particular on psychopathology, defense mechanisms and pathological personality traits) are associated with transphobia in... [ view full abstract ]

Aim of the present study is to assess which socio-demographical and psychological variables (focusing in particular on psychopathology, defense mechanisms and pathological personality traits) are associated with transphobia in a sample of Italian University students.

Methods

165 students were voluntarily recruited among those attending 3 public universities in Milan (Italy), by word of mouth and ads posted in public places. Among participants, 49 were cisgender males (29.7%) and 116 cisgender... [ view full abstract ]

165 students were voluntarily recruited among those attending 3 public universities in Milan (Italy), by word of mouth and ads posted in public places.Among participants, 49 were cisgender males (29.7%) and 116 cisgender females (70.3%); mean age was 24.32 years (SD=± 4.887; age range: 18-49 years).47.9% of participants were undergraduate students, 29.1% were graduate students while 18.2% were post-graduate. As for sexual orientation, 132 participants (80%) were self-identified exclusively heterosexual, while 33 were self-identifies as homosexual, bisexual or asexual. As for political orientation, 27.9% were left-wing, 26.1% center-left, 4.8% center, 6.1% center-right, and 6.7% right wing. 55.2% of participants claimed thay had never get in touch with a trans persons, while 13.9% had at least one transgender person among their acquaitances.

Main Outcome Measures

The students who voluntarily agreed to participate completed a battery of questionnaires (presented in randomized order) including: - a socio-demographic form; - the Transphobia Scale (TS; Nagoshi et al., 2008) is a 9-item... [ view full abstract ]

The students who voluntarily agreed to participate completed a battery of questionnaires (presented in randomized order) including:- a socio-demographic form;- the Transphobia Scale (TS; Nagoshi et al., 2008) is a 9-item scale meant to measure prejudice against transgender individuals. Items were responded to on a scale from 1 = “completely disagree” to 7 = “completely agree”; - the Response Evaluation Measure 71 (REM-71; Steiner et al., 2001; Prunas et al., 2009): a 71-item self-report questionnaire allowing the evaluation of 21 defenses, organized in two higher-order factors: maure and immature;- The Symptom Checklist–90–Revised (Derogatis et al., 1993) is a widely used 90-item self-report questionnaire intended to measure self-report symptom severity on a number of different subscales. For the purpose of the present study, only the Global Severity Index (GSI) was used as a measure of psychopathology;- Personality Inventory for DSM-5, brief version (PID-5-BF; Krueger, Derringer,et al., 2011) is a 25-item questionnaire with a 4-point response scale, designed to measure the proposed DSM-5 traits. The PID-5-BF assesses 5 higher order dimensions: negative affectivity, detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, andpsychoticism.

Results

A hierarchical regression model was carried out with the TS total score as dependent variable; gender and age (step 1), sexual orientation (step 2), political orientation (step 3), religiosity (step 4), contact with trans... [ view full abstract ]

Conclusion

Our results show that people with higher levels of transphobia show a specific psychological profile characterized by a less mature defense style and high levels of antagonism. Antagonism is defined as "behaviours that put... [ view full abstract ]

Our results show that people with higher levels of transphobia show a specific psychological profile characterized by a less mature defense style and high levels of antagonism. Antagonism is defined as "behaviours that put the individual at odds with other people, including an exaggerated sense of self-importance and a concomitant expectation of special treatment, as well as a callous antipathy toward others" (APA, 2013, p.780).All in all, it can be concluded that highly transphobic individuals have a less mature personality.Implications for clinical practice and prevention of transphobia will be discussed.